


Mo Otter Antics

by blythechild



Series: The Otter One [5]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anthropomorphic, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Idiots in Love, Mating, Mischief, Mutual Pining, Otters, Separations, Sibling Rivalry, Silly, Trouble In Paradise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 22:27:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11999208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blythechild/pseuds/blythechild
Summary: Spencer gets banished for mating season. It seems like a great plan, but it doesn't help out Emily one bit.This is a work of fanfiction and as such I do not claim ownership over the characters herein. It was created as a personal amusement. This story is suitable for readers 14 and up.





	Mo Otter Antics

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Deejaymil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deejaymil/gifts).



Emily was dangerously cranky. Scout and Benji had driven her to her last nerve and they were currently in an impressive ‘time-out’ on the break wall glaring at one another. They were forbidden upon pain of a maternal tail slap from speaking, at least until Emily could remember why she loved the little buggers so much in the first place. So, they sat, faces creased with angry wrinkles and paws folded over their chests, glaring at each other like bookends of otter umbrage. But at least she’d managed to get them quiet…

She heard Spencer’s wet scampering up the break wall before she saw him. He dropped two fish at her feet and shook water all over the place. She was about to turn her rage on him, but two fish is a gift you don’t turn down.

“Hello, love,” he chirped happily and then took in the scene before him. “What’s going on here?”

“I want to KILL your children,” she seethed while staring at the pups. They had the good manners to look abashed for a moment.

“Ummm, well… yes,” Spencer shuffled awkwardly. “But why today specifically?”

“The little wharf rats dared Penny’s youngest to get a salmon from the big sea net just outside the cove.”

Emily heard Spencer’s alarmed gasp. “What?”

“There’s more,” she turned to glare at him. “Zeke got caught in the netting and nearly drowned. Humans had to cut him out, and after they did, they decided to take him to the Institute instead of releasing him.”

“No…”

“Our damned pups didn’t even stick around to help,” she growled. “They swam back and tried to hide what they’d done until it was almost too late. Then Scout told Derek, and he and I managed to find the fishing boat and cause enough of a ruckus that Zeke dived overboard and got away.” She turned back to her sulking pups and bellowed the rest. “We almost all got sent to the biologists because they can’t think of anyone but themselves!”

Scout and Benji’s eyes went wide and their ears lay flat against their skulls. Emily rarely yelled. Spencer stepped forward and they both fixed their stares to him instantly.

“Why would you do something so dangerous? What has Zeke ever done to you two?” His voice was quiet but deadly serious and it made his pups quiver as he continued. “You’ve heard my stories about the Institute. Do you know what you might have put Zeke through? Do you realize how heartbroken Aunt Penny and Uncle Derek would be if they lost him? This is not okay, babies. You’ve gone too far this time.”

Benji whined and then hiccupped a cry that was quickly mirrored by his sister. Before long the break wall was ringing with otter pup snuffles and sobbing.

“That’s just _great,_ ” Emily muttered. “Good work, Daddy.”

“Why are you angry with me?” he turned away from his distraught children and glared at her instead. “Shouldn’t they learn a lesson from this?”

“But they never DO, do they?” she snapped and waved a frustrated paw at the weeping pups. “They are almost a year old now and still can’t be trusted without supervision! For all the things we’ve taught them, they just don’t _care_ about themselves, each other, or even us! What am I supposed to do with them? I run myself ragged trying to feed and tend them as well as preventing them from near-catastrophes like this-”

“And I don’t?!” Spencer’s spine stiffened and his hackles rose slightly.

“You let them get away with _everything_ , Spence! You encourage it under the excuse of ‘curiosity’! Why should they feel concerned about anything when their father finds it all so delightful!” Emily spat, anger making her unexpectedly cruel, even to her own ears. “And you’re a terrible hunter. I do most of it – that’s almost a full-time job in itself.”

Spencer blinked and stepped back as if she might attack him. The pups were wailing now, sobs broken by little pleas of “Mommy, Daddy, don’t fight… we’ll be good… promise.”

“Is that… is that what you really think of me?” he gulped, and Emily suddenly felt chilled all over. The hurt and wariness from their first meeting came back to him and she realized she’d let fury push her too far.

“No,” she sagged. “No… I don’t really feel that way. I just…” She looked at her weeping children and felt awful, a total, otterly failure as a Mom. “They’re driving me nuts, and I know their wildness is my fault, and it almost cost Zeke his life today-”

“It isn’t your fault…”

“Isn’t it? They are just like me. Now I know how my Mom felt when she spent my whole childhood yelling at me…”

“Mommy… we’re so sorry. Please… we didn’t mean it. We didn’t want Zeke to get in trouble. Tell her, Benji…” Scout leaned forward on her paws and sobbed. For once Benji did as his sister asked, and he also shuffled over to her wrapping her tightly with him as if they were one.

“She’s right, Mommy. Please don’t fight with Daddy. We were bad, but we won’t do it again. We _do_ care. We care about you and Daddy, we care about Zeke… we were just so scared, that’s all…”

They clung to each other fiercely with their tiny paws, hiccupping and with huge, watery eyes that broke Emily’s heart. She sighed heavily. What was she going to do with them? She shuffled forward as everyone else watched, and then nosed a fish at them.

“Eat this,” she grumbled. “And I’ll think about your punishment.”

Benji slipped away from his sister and retrieved the fish, but after he dragged it back both of the pups just sat and stared at her. Exhausted, Emily turned away and padded to the far side of the break wall. She didn’t know if he would follow her, but in time heard Spencer slide up beside her.

“That was… intense,” he sighed. She just stared out at the sea.

“Mating season is a few weeks away,” she said after a long silence. He shifted next to her.

“I know.”

“We can’t afford another one,” she said bluntly, and the words made her stomach twist especially when she heard his hurt noise next to her. “I can barely handle them.”

“And I’m not helping enough,” he concluded wetly. She sagged and closed her eyes in shame.

“I’m sorry, Spence,” she whispered, feeling like a failure as a mate, a mother, and a damned great otter.

“Well… we d-don’t… we don’t have to participate in the season this year…”

“That’s not gonna cut it, and you know it.” She turned to face him and he looked as heartbroken as her pups did moments earlier. She was just hurting everyone today it seemed… “You were the one who explained biological imperative to me – you know how it works. We won’t be able to help ourselves.”

“W-what are you s-saying?”

“We need to stay away from each other. At least until the season passes.” They hadn’t spent a day apart since they became mates. She didn’t know what it would be like with him suddenly gone.

“Emily…” he gulped, his paws fretting nervously in front of him. “Don’t. Please…”

“It’s not forever,” she slid up to him and nuzzled his whiskers. “You’re still my mate. It’s just ‘til the season’s over. We just… can’t have another pup, Spence. We can’t…”

“I can behave myself…” he nuzzled her back and then nipped her, disproving his theory immediately. And she warmed towards him, which meant that she wouldn’t have the nerve to refuse him come mating season either. This was the best option for them both. But he sounded just like their pups as he pleaded. 

“It has to be this way. You know it does.” She pushed him away gently. He looked devastated. “I can take the pups and stay with Rossi for a few weeks…”

“No… no. I’ll go,” he choked. “I’ll, uh… I’ll go now.”

She panicked, pulling him back to her. “You don’t have to leave until the season starts…”

“It’s best to go now. The season is a generalized date, not a hard boundary. You could come in early… It’s probably better if I leave sooner… when I have the will to do it.”

He licked her whiskers, once, twice, and then hopped slowly away. He seemed half his size, half his usual golden glow…

“Spencer,” she called out and he looked back, a furry frown replacing his normal, fangy grin. “It’s _just_ for the season. You’re mine and you always will be.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything. Then he skimmed down the break wall and landed with a splash, disappearing under the water before she could tell him she loved him.

\----- 

“I can’t believe you tossed him out,” Derek pouted. Emily turned a disbelieving look on him.

“I thought you of all otters would approve this plan.”

“Why?”

“Because a) you’ve never passed a season without fathering a pup on _someone_ …”

Penelope snorted in agreement from where she watched the gaggle of children dive for mollusks. Derek shot her a look.

“And b),” Emily continued. “My troublesome offspring nearly cost you a child. Abstinence is the only solution right now.”

“What is… ‘abtinence’?” Derek’s brows wrinkled.

“It means keeping a male’s furry dick in check, Boo,” Penelope snarked. “If only I’d heard of that sooner…”

“You sayin’ you don’t want my pups, Baby Girl?” Derek sounded hurt beyond all measure and it made Emily think of that last time she saw Spencer slinking away, defeated. He must’ve thought she hated bearing his young. Her chest got too tight suddenly and she stretched out backward in the water so she could suck in as much air as she could handle. _I love our babies, Spence. Don’t convince yourself that I don’t…_

“C’mere you big, silly otter,” Penelope cooed and Derek gratefully swam over, curling around her in a ridiculous lump of brown fur that made Emily ache all over. “I love our pups, and even your pups you had with other females that we shall never name. But Miss Em has a point. Raising pups ain’t easy – a girl’s gotta be sure she can handle the extra responsibility.”

“Hmmmm,” Derek purred in a way that could quickly escalate into something Emily had no desire to witness. “But it’s soooo much fuuuun… I think Emily just hates fun…”

Penelope shoved her mate away and he gave a cry that drew all of the pups’ eyes to him.

“ _That’s_ what I’m talkin’ about, Otter,” she hissed as she rose up in the water and placed her paws on her hips. “You males are all about _the breeding_ and not so much about _the raising._ Us females wouldn’t mind so much if you turned out to be more helpful.”

“To be fair,” Emily peeped up. “Spencer’s pretty helpful.” And he was. He just wasn’t good at hunting. “I just felt… after the incident with Zeke,” she looked at Penelope with a silent apology. “I needed to get a better handle on the pups I already have. That’s all.”

Benji and Scout were nearby and looked guilty playing with the other pups. They’d taken Spencer’s absence as a punishment for what they’d done, and Emily thought they probably weren’t wrong about that. Their father had been gone a week and they hadn’t stepped a toe out of line in the meantime. Emily even caught them starting a fight and then suddenly stopping in mid-insult, padding away in separate directions instead. Her heart had throbbed with pride to see it, and then her first instinct was to find Spencer and tell him about it. Then her heart sank, and she sat on the break wall staring out at the sea for an hour.

“Well, it still seems like you’re punishing him for something he can’t help,” Derek huffed. “Though he’d never say that, of course…”

“You’ve seen him?” Emily perked up, her ears canting forward and paws clutched together. “How is he? Does he look okay? Is he grooming himself? He’s terrible at grooming…”

“Dammit, female,” Derek muttered. “You two are unbelievable. Determined to make each other miserable and pine for one another at the same time…”

“Derek,” Penelope growled. “Don’t be a jerk.”

“He’s miserable?” Emily whispered, heart thudding too loudly in her ears.

“He’s fine. Mostly.” Derek rolled his furry eyebrows. “He’s hangin’ with Rossi. They are playing this game with a bunch of rocks and a square of netting. Spencer calls it ‘chess’…”

“Oh. That’s good,” she mumbled as she sank back into the water. Maybe he didn’t miss her much at all.

“He asks about you and the pups every time I see him.” Derek looked at her seriously. “Sometimes he pretends that he forgot he asked and makes me tell him again. All he’s doing is sitting out there with Rossi and watching the sun rise and set, rise and set…”

_Oh, babe… I miss you too…_

“Boo,” Penelope sighed and then splashed Derek to get his attention. “You’re being a jerk again.”

“Fine. I’ve said my thang. Emily, you are abusing a damn fine otter, that’s all. End of story.”

“Enough of this,” Penelope chirped, then she leaned towards the pups around her. “Who’s up for a race across the inlet and back, huh?”

A chorus of excited chirruping and splashing happened and then she, Emily, and Derek begin to herd the collected brood towards the bay. Penelope brushed Emily’s side as they swam behind their young, her light blonde fur pretty and puffed in the autumn sunlight.

“I appreciate what you’re doing, Em,” she bubbled into the surf. “And I appreciate that you’re doing it because of what happened to Zeke…”

“I can’t apologize enough, Pen-”

“You’ve already made up for that, so let it go, sweety. You and Derek saved him – that’s what counts. But if this plan of yours does something horrible to you and Spence, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Why would it do something horrible?” she gasped.

“Because otters are meant to be together, not apart. It’s our nature, honey.” 

Penelope dived under the surface and wiggled after her young. After a moment, Emily did the same and didn’t notice the otter in the distance, bobbing on the waves, watching them.

\----- 

The first week of mating season was in full swing and because Emily wasn’t participating, she’d become every other female’s babysitter when they swam off to get their business done. She’d never been so busy in her entire furry life, but to her great astonishment, Benji and Scout helped out as best they could. They corralled the older pups and organized games, leaving her with the babies that were too young and tried the other pups’ patience. It was something at least. In the end, she suspected her pups were actually holding dirty little seminars about mating practices, as their ‘games’ usually ended with a lot of pup giggling and averted glances afterwards. Spencer was fond of saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ – although Emily had no idea what a Rome was or how long it would take to build one – but she thought that, similarly, her pups couldn’t be reformed overnight. It was enough to see them trying.

She was run off her paws during the day, and at night she was itchy and horny and coming out of her skin with thoughts of her mate. It was all she could do to take long swims in the cooler waters by the inlet’s rim to tire herself even further, but it still wasn’t enough. She wanted him, missed him painfully day by day and in a way that didn’t feel like mindless mating lust at all. She missed his chirps and grunts, his stupid hair and the way he blew bubbles at her to make her laugh. She missed curling with him at night, their pups cradled between them in a slowly twirling circle of soft snoring and seaweed. She missed talking to him, listening to the strange things he knew and the joy he had for them. Some nights she curled up tightly, alone, Benji and Scout securely wrapped in kelp nearby, and whimpered for him. She made it soft enough that no one would hear her and say she was a stupid otter for torturing herself needlessly.

One evening as she saw off the last of her charges to a blissed-out female who thanked her too effusively, she spotted a shadow lit by the dimming twilight on the water. At first, she thought her eyes were tricking her, or that a rogue male had come wandering, but the breeze shifted and the shadow changed into something with lazy curls fluttering above the water. Her heart leapt.

“Spence?”

The shadow bobbed for a while and then turned away. _No!_

“Spence!” she hissed. “Don’t go, please!”

The shadow stopped and bobbed in place again.

“I miss you,” drifted to her across the water.

“I miss you too. You have no idea. Come closer, I can’t see you…”

“No. This is close enough.”

“Spence…” she choked. God, why had she thought this was a good plan in the first place? “Are you all right?”

“Yes.” His voice echoed as if he were across the bay. It was too far, too much. She wanted him _here_ , next to her, curling her up with his paws and tail… “How are the pups doing?”

“They ask about you all the time. ‘When is Daddy coming back?’ ‘How many more days?’ It’s breaking my heart that they are counting… They’ve been so well behaved though I can barely believe it’s them. I keep thinking they got swapped out for calmer ones while I wasn’t looking.”

He chuckled and she saw the ripples of it in the dark water reaching out for her. 

“I also think they are slowly informing every pup in the bay about salacious and possibly dubious mating facts. So, yeah, maybe they weren’t switched out after all…”

He laughed harder and it echoed off the nearby rocks making the water ripple even more. She felt it brush against her fur and pretends it’s him, wants it to be him…

“Come _here_ , Spence,” she purred without thinking. “Please…”

He growled distantly, the sound that would have her pressed and wriggling against him at any other moment. But it stopped abruptly, the shadow disappearing with a splash. After a long moment of nothing she heard, “Tell them I miss them and that I love them” on the wind and then nothing more. She called for him once, and again, but she knew he was no longer there.

\----- 

_God, how much longer could this season last?_ It seemed far longer than she remembered. The daily rutting and mating calls and self-satisfied otters just seemed to go on and on, and she was living for the moment when the denizens of the bay collectively snapped out of their sex fog and she could finally go home. Penny and Derek had become especially intolerable in the past few days. The chirruping and grunting was more than a friend should have to withstand. For a female who complained about her mate’s lackluster parenting skills, Penny wasn’t doing much to avoid having yet another pup to care for.

Today Emily had had her fill of mooning friends and told them to go someplace and work it out of their systems while she watched the brood. They were grateful and then gone in a flash of bubbles and purring, and Emily managed to find it in herself to wish them well. Penny’s kids were pretty great and Emily didn’t mind tending them so much, now that her own seemed to have gained a modicum of survival instincts. She had corralled them into a game she thought Spencer would enjoy, and then she told herself to stop thinking about him before it brought the whole day down. She had the pups diving for strange shells and starfish. When they brought them to the surface, she, Benji and Scout would try to identify them, and if they couldn’t they’d all memorize the specimen to discuss it later (with Spencer). Benji and Scout had already pledged to finding an octopus and dragging it to the surface. Emily hoped that didn’t happen; she had no idea how to free an otter baby from angry tentacles. The game was going well – pups entertained and safe – and she groomed in the sunlight waiting for their little heads to pop up and dive under again. She counted their breaths the way Spencer taught her to make sure none of them were under too long.

“Well, hello, pretty,” a strange, low voice roused her from her counting. A male she’d never seen before was swimming up to her, proud and confident with the rush of the season.

“Hello,” she murmured and wiggled further away from him. “Fine day, isn’t it?”

“It is. A fine day indeed,” he rumbled. “Are all of these pups yours? You must be quite the female if they are…”

“Some are. I’m watching some others.”

The stranger nodded. He was darker and sleeker than any of the males from the bay; he wasn’t from any raft she’d seen. Perhaps we was another species. Spencer would’ve known…

“Where’s your mate?” he asked conversationally. “Do you have one?”

“He’s off hunting,” she lied, feeling her hackles rise slightly and wondering if she could fight him off without the pups seeing.

“I don’t think so,” he growled and swam closer. “It’s mating season. If you had a mate, he wouldn’t leave your side until it was over. He’d be covering you every chance he got, a beautiful female like you…”

“I’m not interested.” She bared her fangs. It had been a while since she’d had to fight off a horny male, but she still knew how to do it.

“Don’t be that way,” he purred, obviously confused and overrun with hormones. “It’s a natural thing. You’ll enjoy it, I promise. I’m good at this.”

“I doubt that,” she snarked, and then Benji popped to the surface with a starfish in his mouth.

“ ‘Um! Vook vat I fond!”

“Dive back down, baby, _now_ ”

Benji spat out the starfish, glaring at the strange otter. “Why?”

“Because you’re interrupting a moment, little one,” the otter growled. And then Scout surfaced. Emily cursed her family’s bad timing.

Scout took the scene in quickly, focusing on her twin’s glare at the dark otter, and then she looked at Emily. “Mom?”

“You and Benji dive down again. Right now.”

“No,” Benji growled, and then looked at his sister. “That otter isn’t right.” He jabbed a paw at the stranger, and then both pups glared at him, their fangs popping out slightly. _Jeez, not a good time, kids…_

“Leave Mom alone,” Scout growled.

“Your mom doesn’t want me to,” the strange otter hissed.

“Yes, she does,” Benji shouted. “Mom has Dad. She doesn’t need _you_.”

“We’ll see about that,” the otter chuckled and then swam towards Emily.

Scout and Benji moved as one, fast like their father, and darted to come between Emily and the stranger. “No!” Scout yelled. “Go away!” And then more pup heads popped to the surface. Emily began to panic – she couldn’t protect them all. The stranger started to lose his sense of humor. He growled at the pups and the younger ones shrieked and backed away. 

Emily had had enough at that point.

She leapt over her babies with a yowl and came at the stranger with her fangs bared and a tremendous amount of growling.

“Not! Interested!” she bellowed as she grabbed a chunk of his shoulder and bit down. He squealed and that was all the twins needed to join in the fight. They chirped and splashed in a confusing display of chaos, nipping the otter as they passed under him and popping out the other side.

“What the…!” he shouted and then swatted blindly, catching Scout with the edge of a large paw and flinging her hard into a break wall rock. She squeaked in pain and then all Emily saw was red. She screamed and launched herself at the otter, sinking her fangs deep into his neck and tearing, her back paws clutching and scraping his belly as they thrashed.

“Mom!” She heard Benji squeal. “Mommy!”

And then there was a new, deeper growl and other paws were tearing at the stranger as blood suddenly filled the water around them.

“GET AWAY!” the voice screamed, and Emily saw a flash of gold as she fought. “AWAY FROM THEM! THEY ARE MINE!”

The stranger gasped and twisted, flailing desperately under the assault until he shook himself free with a great splash. He swam to a safe distance and then turned back to roar his displeasure.

“Bitch female!” he yowled, and Emily heard two little voices pipe up, “Get away! Bad otter!” Then there was a mighty, threatening growl and a ripple as something dove under and chased the stranger until he was a dot at the other end of the inlet.

Emily blinked, rage settling and making her dizzy, and then she heard muted crying and turned to find a gaggle of terrified pups bobbing on the choppy surface and clinging to each other.

“It’s okay,” she soothed. “He’s gone now. You’re safe… we’re all safe…” She looked to the rocks and found Benji wrapped protectively around his sister. They weren’t crying – they were fiercely glaring in the direction of the defeated otter, their little fangs still bared.

“Are you okay? Babies, look at Mommy…” They both turned and nodded.

“Daddy went after him,” Benji growled. “Daddy’ll get him, won’t he?”

“Daddy?” Emily glanced back but it wasn’t as if she could see anything from this distance. Of course it must have been him, but how had he known? He must have been following them. Maybe he’d been following them since the day they parted…

“Daddy will fight him even though he says fighting’s bad,” Scout proclaimed to the other pups and they all nodded in muted awe. “Uncle Rossi showed him how. Daddy’ll make sure that mean otter doesn’t come back.”

Emily shivered with the sudden loss of her rage and new fears for her mate. Sure, he’d defend his turf like any otter would, but hunting down a trespasser wasn’t something she’d expect from him. And that other otter was much bigger.

“Spencer…” she murmured, worried and wanting to swim out into the bay after them. But she had half a dozen pups with her… “C’mon, tiny warriors,” she hushed instead, collecting her frightened charges together and licking their whiskers to calm them. “Let’s go home and tell Mommy and Daddy of our adventure, okay?”

“Yeah,” Benji puffed out his chest and wiggled around the other pups. “Your folks need to know how brave you were. Right, Scout?”

“Yes,” Scout nodded and smiled, joining her brother and herding the pups back to safety.

Emily bopped them both on the nose as she swam with them. “I’m so proud of you,” she murmured. “Daddy’s proud too. You did good.”

They both grinned. Scout did a speedy, curling loop underwater and Benji just swam to the head of the pack, leading and smiling the whole way home.

\---- 

“He’s gone,” Derek huffed as he surfaced. “No one seems to know where he came from, but no female in the bay accepted him, so maybe that’s why he was so aggressive.”

“Like that’s an excuse,” Penny growled as she cuddled one of her pups closer.

“It’s not, Baby Girl, but it makes no difference. Spencer must have chased him clear out to the coast ‘cause ain’t nobody’s seen him and, trust me, they’re all lookin’ for that rat now…”

“Has anyone seen Spencer?” Emily murmured, fretting her paws in front of her. Derek watched her and curled closer, grabbing her paws in his.

“No, but that doesn’t mean anything. There’s a few more days ‘til the end of the season. Perhaps he’s just being cautious.”

“You didn’t see that otter, Derek. He was big… Spencer shouldn’t have gone after him-”

“He probably couldn’t stop himself, Em, with his mate and pups being threatened an’ all…”

“But he could be hurt somewhere,” She looked around her to make sure Benji and Scout weren’t within earshot. “ _Really_ hurt, Derek…”

“He’s got too much sense for that,” Penelope soothed quickly. “That otter of yours has got _strategy_ , ya know?”

“Anyway, everyone’s keeping an eye out, and I sent word to Rossi and the seagulls… if he’s in trouble someone will spot it and report back. So, just hang tight, female. He’s gonna come home, you’ll see.”

He’d better. She wasn’t losing him to something as stupid as a biological imperative.

\---- 

She couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she heard her pups squeaking in fear or Spencer’s roar of ‘GET AWAY!’ She wanted to be home. She wanted to be curled with him around their young. She wanted this whole season to be over. What a _stupid_ plan this was. And she always thought of herself as a smart otter…

She heard splashing just beyond their nook along the shoals and her hackles rose immediately. Would that rogue male be lust-mad enough to return? Surely not. But her babies were behind her and she wouldn’t let anything come at them, even if it meant she had to swim out into dark, open waters alone to fight it. She skimmed the surface quickly and saw a shadow dart to the base of a great rock, out of the moonlight. She decided to make a show and growled, fierce and loud so that nothing would mistake her for some weak, easy victim.

“Are they okay?” the voice came across the water. “Scout and Benji… are they all right?”

And then she dived under the surface and swam with all of her might, wiggling and twirling for maximum speed until she rose again with a sputter and reached out for him. He yelped when her claws found him, dragging him away from the rock and into the moonlight. His fur was matted and there was a great, bloody scar along his nose, but he was fine. Blinking and shocked, but fine. She gripped him tightly and then curled up him, licking the dried blood away from his snout and purring with relief.

“You’re hurt,” she huffed as she licked feverishly. _Silly, brave, impossible Spencer…_

“It’s fine, Em… Scout and Benji-” He was rigid underneath her, not his usual tender self.

“The babies are okay. They were so brave today. Just like you. Did you see?”

“I saw.”

“And afterwards. They calmed the other pups, they kept their heads, Spence. They worked together…”

He chuckled softly, breath fluttering the fur along her chest and a purr poured out of her before she could stop it. Spencer wriggled and got free of her, swimming back to the safety of the rock.

“Spencer… what…”

“Go back to them,” he mumbled, sounding pained. “I just wanted to check on all of you.”

“Spence…” She swam closer.

“No,” he growled. “Just a few more days and it’ll be over. We can all go home.”

“I’ve been going mad here. Thinking you might be out there somewhere hurt or… worse. You can’t just show up and then disappear again. I need to know you’re okay. I need to sniff it and touch it… _know_ that it’s true…”

“That’s the hormones talking, Em,” he warned.

“You defended us! You attacked a much larger male today, and you _kept attacking_ until he left the inlet. Are you saying, after all of that, you don’t want me now?”

He made a low otter bark and growled again. “That’s the hormones too.”

“So what! This was a stupid idea and we’ve been miserable and alone for weeks because of it. I’ve been taunted every day by horny, satisfied otters, and mated pairs wrapped around each other… I made a mistake, Spence. I thought it was the right thing, but there’s nothing right about this. I miss my mate and you’re out there, watching us! I miss your voice and your twisted whiskers and your fangy smile. I miss you with our young. I even miss how you always bring home the tiniest fish!”

She floated closer so that she could see the outline of his tangles in the water.

“I miss grooming you. You’re probably a mess by now, aren’t you? I miss the way you grunt when I lick your belly.”

He made the grunting noise and then choked it off almost immediately. She floated just a fraction closer.

“I miss the way you bite my ruff when you want me…”

“Emily,” he growled ominously.

“Tell me, have you’ve been following us the whole time?”

His shadow nodded slowly. Then he breathed roughly and his voice was uneven. “Today… I was too far away. It took me too long to get to you. I heard you yell… I heard the pups crying… I should’ve been there. If anything happened to you-”

She closed the distance and curled up his chest until they were nose to nose. Her paws dug into him; he wouldn’t shake her off again without fighting her.

“Nothing was going to happen because I can fight and my family had my back.” She nosed his whiskers and it elicited an unambiguous mating grunt from him. She purred back, feeling what little restraint she had float away with the sound. Then she licked his whiskers to soothe them flat, and slowly arched up to lick the scar across his nose. Once, twice, three times, and each languid stroke produced an escalating growl from him.

“But also,” she stopped and held his dark stare. “Nothing was going to happen because my mate wouldn’t stand for it.”

He growled loudly and flipped her so fast she gasped in surprise. And then his teeth were in her ruff and his paws held her painfully close.

“Emily,” he gasped desperately. “Leave now. I can stop myself long enough if… you leave right now. Don’t say anything, don’t tease… just… go, and we’ll have made it through.”

“I’m not leaving,” she purred, bumping his tail with hers. “I’ve never regretted having your young, Spencer. I only felt that I let you and them down by not being a strong enough mother…”

He chirped in disbelief into her fur, paws clenching and holding her as she bumped and pushed back at him.

“I’m not here because I’m a mindless, mating-driven female. I’m here because being apart from you is driving me crazy, and we’re only apart because of my ridiculous plan in the first place. It’s the end of the season… if we have another pup, so be it, Spence. We’ll figure it out. But I’m not spending one more night alone wishing that you were beside me instead.”

She turned just enough to lick him, grab a pawful of fur, and hold him close.

“I told you that you were mine and always would be…”

He growled back, low and enticing. “Well, I warn you… I _am_ a little mindless for you right now. I’ve been mindless for twenty-five sunrises and sunsets, and one hundred and forty-seven games of chess with Rossi. He actually threatened to squash me tonight if I didn’t swim off and do ‘otter pervert-y things’ with you. He has no tolerance left for me.”

“Derek mentioned you’ve been pining…” she cooed, feeling hot and dangerous all over when he grunted again through his teeth.

“Yes,” he growled. “Silly otter pining on a rock next to an ugly sea lion in the middle of mating season…”

“I was pining too,” she whispered, licking a tangle along his neck. “Yelling at all of the rutting couples like an old, cranky female and wanting you there every second…”

He released her and barked loudly, making her twitch at the unusual authority in his voice.

“Spence-”

“Swim away, Em,” he grunted. “I want _to chase_ you…”

She grinned and purred uncontrollably then. Splashing and flipping along the moonlit surface, she showed off for him whenever she surfaced and found his eyes riveted to her. She swam circles around him, teasing, chirping, but always staying just out of reach. He didn’t complain, just watched her, and waited for the hunt to begin.

“Think you can catch me, otter?” she bubbled into the water as she twirled around him.

“I _will_ catch you,” he promised.

And then they were off. She made him work for it – she was no pushover – but he was faster and, as Penny said, he had strategy. So, he caught her, and Emily enjoyed every moment of it thoroughly.

\----- 

When Benji and Scout woke the next morning, finding themselves wrapped in both kelp and the curved bodies of their parents, the joy could not be contained by their tiny selves. Splashing, chirping, and excited, loud storytelling erupted even before Spencer was fully awake. Scout hopped over her father repeatedly as Benji nosed and soaked him while playacting out the last three weeks of adventures in one, unending, hysterical sentence. Emily grinned as Spencer egged them on, making them more excitable with probing questions and surprised exclamations. She nuzzled up to him and began working on a tangle along his chest as the pups carried on.

“Never leave again,” she purred through her teeth as she nipped the snarl of fur. “No matter what I say.”

He looked down at her, soft, brown eyes half hidden by the curls drooping from his head. “Okay,” he purred back, and that was the end of that.

\---- 

Although, as it turned out, it wasn’t _quite_ the end.

“So much for keeping his furry dick in check,” Penelope smirked as she lay out on the break wall and soaked up the sunlight.

Emily cracked an eyelid and gave Penny’s enormous belly a once-over. “You’re one to talk. You’re so big – you might be having twins.” Penelope opened her eyes and shot her a slightly worried look.

“You think? Oh dear…”

Emily smiled and closed her eyes, paw stroking her own, more modest belly. A few yards away, Derek and Spencer stood watching their mates in the sun, both wearing equally goofy expressions of pride. Emily had long since given up trying to make them stop.

“Mine’s gonna be big,” she heard Derek crow and imagined him grinning like a fool, paws crossed over his chest, king of all otterdom.

“Mine’s gonna be tiny,” Spencer said with equal joy and excitement, and when she opened her eyes to check, he was even more pleased than Derek.

“Silly otter,” she mumbled with a smile, and went back to dozing in the sunlight.

\---- 

Everyone agreed: Mo was the happiest otter anyone could remember. Emily believed her daughter was born wagging her tiny tail, and she never seemed to stop. Not even when she slept. She would lay curled between her older brother and sister, who both adored her, and her little tail would softly whap-whap-whap them all night long as they snored.

She also talked constantly. Although since she was still too young to get the hang of words, her conversations were filled with endless combinations of chirrups and chitterings, purrs and growls. She never stopped. Somehow she managed to get her point across adequately, and the twins seemed especially attuned to her language, acting as both bodyguards and translators to their tiny sibling.

“Mo wants to know when she can swim on her own,” Benji translated a burst of delicate chirps one bright afternoon. Emily watched as Spencer blinked at his children.

“She did not,” he countered while looking at his youngest with fascination nonetheless.

Mo made a burst of excited squeaks, waving her paws around as she padded on Scout’s belly.

“She totally did, Dad,” Scout yawned, patting her sister lightly. Mo closed her eyes and purred into it.

“Well, Mo…” Spencer cleared his throat. “Not until you’ve lost your baby fur. You’ll be too buoyant until that happens. And buoyant means floaty, in case that was your next question…”

Emily bit her lip to keep from laughing. Mo sighed in dramatic fashion, and Emily couldn’t help but wonder if she really did understand what they were saying. Then she chirped and rolled out across her sister.

“She doesn’t like that answer, but she appreciates the floaty business,” Benji huffs and then rolls onto his back in the water displaying his belly to the sun like his sisters. “Mom, can we have mollusks for dinner?” The pups closed their eyes and drifted, Mo’s tail flopping happily at random intervals. 

Emily and Spencer just looked at each other, at a loss to explain the weirdness of their brood.

“How did she get so smart?” Spencer whispered one evening as the pups curled together in sleep.

Emily curled around him and nipped his ear gently. “How indeed. There’s no doubt whose pup she is…”

“Are you saying… she’s like me?” He turned to look at her as if she were crazy.

“Of course she is. I’ve never met a smarter otter than you, Spence.”

“Well, where did all the happiness come from then?”

Emily shrugged and nuzzled into him as his paws gripped her close. “Dunno. But Penny says that an otter’s life is about joy – in the water, in the sun, in each other… Maybe Mo is just… a perfect otter.”

It was just an idea but Emily started to believe it. Mo’s appearance seemed to have brought Benji and Scout together: they were never a good team of two, but as a triumvirate they were spectacular. The twins were protective, less apt to try dangerous adventures with their baby sister in tow. And even though Mo was an infant, she seemed to have influence over them. Emily felt certain that as she grew, she’d become their leader. All the better if that leader was a smart, optimistic otter in the same vein as their father. Emily worried for her pups a little less because of the strange, tiny otter now in their midst. It made no sense whatsoever.

Spencer took an extreme interest in teaching Mo. He chatted to her endlessly, and she appeared to listen most of the time. And because wherever she was, her siblings weren’t far behind, all three of them got smarter in short order as a result of so much father-bonding. 

Mo was unstoppable and started to swim before she was ready, too excited to control her wagging tail and usually ending up in a spinning twirl that made her dizzy. Emily swam up one day and stopped her with a paw on her head.

“Easy now, Mo. You steer with your tail. Don’t flap it about so much, okay?”

And that’s when she said it. “Whoa, Mo…” she peeped a little breathlessly. Emily laughed out loud, making the water ripple around them and lifting her baby on the crests and troughs.

“Whoa, Mo, indeed.” She licked her daughter’s delighted grin, and the tail flapping started all over again.

After that the chirps were replaced by endless variations of ‘Mo’.

“Well, this is improvement. Right?” Spencer asked, though equally mystified by his daughter’s new language as by the old one.

“She’s not dull, I’ll give her that much,” Emily concluded.

But the final miracle happened when they dropped the kids off at Rossi’s rock one day and Mo scuttled up to his hulking mass as she always did, grinning and wiggling with joy. Rossi had a soft spot for the pups – everyone knew it – but Mo seemed overjoyed to see him every single time. It was hard not to melt into that sort of adoration, even for a salty sea lion like him.

“What’s up, otter squirt?” he greeted her with a huff. And then she stood up on her back paws, raising her front ones into the air in celebration, and giggled, “Wossi!”

Everyone stood around blinking in silence for a full minute, even the twins. Mo just continued giggling like a maniac and clambered up Rossi’s tail until she found a spot she liked, and then she flopped down to sleep, her tail flapping happily.

Rossi watched it all in awe, and then snuffled, wiggling his massive whiskers and clearing his throat awkwardly. “You know, I’m not too fond of otters in general. I mean, you all are fine an’ everything… but this one…” He nudged his snout at the napping pup. “This here is a _very_ fine, little otter.”

Rossi stared Spencer and Emily down. Both were still looking at their child in wonderment.

“I guess your pervy otter antics finally paid dividends,” Rossi grumbled. “Come by and pick ‘em up later. I’ll make sure no one gets eaten.”

“How did this happen?” Spencer asked later when it was just the two of them chasing and curling around each other in the warm water of the inlet. “It feels like… magic or something. But there’s no such thing as magic. Only science. Science is a real thing that’s _real_. Not magic…”

Emily blew bubbles along his belly and he grunted his approval, rolling in the water to give her more fur to lavish.

“I don’t know. It seems like we didn’t know what we needed to make things better. And then, we almost made things worse trying to figure it out. But Mo feels like… she was always going to happen. She’s what Scout and Benji need, she’s what you and I need, she’s even what Rossi needs…”

“But she’s just an otter, Em,” he gripped her close, curling his paws around her neck and nuzzling for all he was worth. “How can an otter change everything?”

She gripped him back making them twirl in the surf as she nipped his ear. “I know one otter can change everything,” she purred. He growled back, low and inviting, and she knew they’d be late getting back to pick up their pups tonight. She hoped Rossi wouldn’t mind too much. Maybe Mo would smooth it out somehow.

She licked the scar on his nose and then they swam to find some privacy along the rocks of the break wall. “I’m actually not surprised at all,” she mumbled as he bit her ruff. But then the antics took over and all discussion of magical otters were tabled for another day.


End file.
